Sky Prince
by zJammy
Summary: A boy, longing for a life outside his family tradition, uncovers a small mossy egg in a river besides Whiterun. Within, a creature feared by the whole of Tamriel. A scaly, winged creature soon to be this boys best and most trusted friend.
1. Chapter 1

It was the first few days of the fall, and the sky was beginning to set into a rustic red and orange by the time of 6pm. The colour would glow and shimmer for a good hour and a half before fading slowly into a deep blue-black which we associate with the night sky, loitered with the stars, containing the souls of our ancestors.

I smiled, resting my head on my knees, looking up in peace at the dusk, with my winding plumes of silvery breath floating upwards with each slow intake and release of the crisp evening air. Today's jobs had been completed, and tasks fulfilled, errands had been run, and now, it was time to rest. Time to bask in the leftovers of the day, soaking up the last of the light until darkness set in.

Shivering slightly, I adjusted my resting position under the young oak, my back finding a new groove to rest against. I stretched my arms and gazed up, as stars, one by one, started appearing. The souls of past Emperors, Jarls, friends, and family started greeting me. I sighed. This was what I enjoyed; the end of each day. The time I had to myself, all whilst I still held my childhood to my name, at least.

I was 16, son of a blacksmith, older brother to a 5 year old sister. It was expected of me to become my father's apprentice at the age of 17, which is the age which here in Whiterun is considered as the time us children 'come of age'. I didn't particularly like the sound of becoming a blacksmith, mining for ores in the day and smelting them at night- really doesn't sound like fun to me.

My eyes flickered down from the darkening sky, and settled on the river that ran peacefully past our town. The glimmer of the reflecting stars on the water's surface made me think of how lucky we all were. It had been a whole two decades since the last known Dragonborn killed Alduin for good. Alduin, being the dragon which demanded reign of Tamriel back to his kind, the dragons. Probably more for himself than anyone else. I don't really know much about that story, as it ended four years before I was born.

It still interests me though, how one person can be the uplifting of a dying kind, and then singlehandedly take down the terror of the skies that was making everyone's life a misery. It really must have been something to witness.

I yawned slowly, and with a soft breeze which made my skin tingle, I decided that the time was dawning, and that bed was calling. I hauled myself up onto my feet, and took one long lasting gaze into the trickling river.

Something caught my eye. The smooth currents were being disturbed, water was splashing and colliding with a small rock, sending water flying into the air, only to fall as a mist back in to the river and onto the grassy banks.

Out of curiosity, I clambered across the ground to the water's edge, peering over and down at the river. Squinting, I tried in vain to see the rock which was disturbing the peace of the river; my aim was to remove it, just because it seemed odd. The rivers waters were usually tepid and calm flowing, and this object just made things obscure.

With one hand clasping the grassy bank, I leant over and took a firm grasp of the rock, wedged into the riverbank. It moved a little, and with a few shoves, it dislodged and rolled beneath the waters. I removed the mossy rock from the waters and set it on the bank. My thumb rubbed the outer of the rock, and the feel of engraving caught my attention.

Scraping away algae, I peered down at the language embedded into the rocks surface, it was scrawled in a language I could barely recognise, something long forgotten, and that I felt that I should know. I sat in silence, the only other sound despite my slow breathing being the calm trickle of the river beside me.

"Lok Ku…" I mumbled, struggling to read the language, "Lok..Ku..Kulaan. Lok Kulaan?"

The rock shifted in my grasp, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. My eyes widened and I tried to drop the large rock, but for some insane reason I couldn't bring myself to do it, I just couldn't let go.

"What the!" I cried, holding the rock away from my face. I could feel a heat dispersing from the rock, enveloping my hands and creeping up my arms, settling at my chest, and remaining there. I was shaking, scared to the pits of my stomach, which itself was churning in worry. Whatever this thing was, it was most definitely _not _a rock. It was like an egg.

"Lok kulaan," I whispered suddenly, my mind ticking over as I recalled some of the distinct language, "Sky prince?"

With that phrase, the egg, thing, split down the middle, and I finally dropped it. It landed between my legs, on the grass, and split into pieces. My breath wavered on the wind, and I watched, bemused and scared, as a creature emerged from the egg. It was slimy and gunky, with big black eyes and a long curled tail. I knew what this creature was, and all at once my emotions twisted and clashed; the warmth I had felt in my arms and chest disappeared instantly and I shuffled quickly back until my body hit the oak tree. I sat there, shivering.

From afar, I stared in horror, as the freshly hatched dragon cawed and yelped, writhing in the sludge from the egg, moving its small wings around and stretching them. After catching its balance shakily on its small hind legs and forearms, it raised a small head to stare at me. Inspecting me with its eyes, carefully and quietly.

"Oh my god," I whispered, my voice barely audible, "Oh my actual god,"

The creature yelped and cocked its head to the side, blinking in curiosity. I blinked back, just as curious, but a hell of a lot more scared.

With slinking, wobbly movements, the slimy creature clambered forward, its frontal half lowered and its hind arisen; as if it were a dog asking to play. Still with a head turned to the side, it cawed quietly, approaching with caution. Just as it got within a foot of me, it tripped over a stone lodged in the ground and collapsed weakly upon my lap.

In fright, I raised my arms away from my side and wriggled as the creature struggled to get up, I called out and tried to shove it away, but it was surprisingly heavy, and its gunky slime was covering my leather chaps.

"Get off!" I cried, pushing it aside, successfully this time. It rolled over onto its side, off of me, and yelped loudly as it hit the floor. Almost instantly, it got up and jumped back a good few feet. Then it sat on its hind legs and stared at me, a little more coldly this time.

I felt a little guilty. As scared as I was to have discovered a dragon egg, and witness it hatch, hurting the creature didn't seem too friendly. The thing was just brought into the world, I was its first living contact, and I shoved the helpless soul away.

Looking towards the creature, trying my best to not look terrified, I tried to smile. This gesture only confused the scaly, winged lizard; it cocked its head to the side again.

"Sorry," I apologised, feeling a little stupid about talking to a mute, probably stupid animal, "I didn't mean to hurt you,"

Its head perked up a little, and it slunk back over to me again, careful this time to avoid the rock jutting out of the ground. It got within touching distance of me, then sat on its hind, and stared at me.

Oddly, it seemed just as curious as me.

I was quite surprised to not discover that a baby dragon isn't as helpless at birth as I thought. I mean, he seemed pretty able; not able enough to run, or let alone fly, but able none the less.

Lifting an arm, I reached towards the little animal, leaning forward some, also. At first, it seemed frightened, but as it came accustomed to seeing my appendage reaching out towards it, it started to move forward.

At this precise point, it came to me that I didn't know whether this dragon were male or female. I recall learning in school that the males tend to have longer horns and broader snouts, and that females had longer tails and wings that stretched further in span. It was hard to tell for the chick, as it was freshly born and not really developed enough to be able to tell its sex.

I jumped back into reality after a few seconds of pondering, only to find the snout of the small creature pressed into my palm. Its eyes were closed and its tail was swishing from side to side. My eyes widened and a small smile grew upon my face. I was touching a dragon; one of the most feared creatures in all the land. Well, maybe not. A _baby _dragon, but still, it counts.

"We need to get you somewhere safe," I spoke quietly, blinking at the quiet animal, "Dragons aren't safe in Whiterun. Everyone's on high alert to… umm… hurt animals like you,"

The dragon opened its eyes, and to my amazement, its irises had turned the most bright, brilliant shade of blue. Much brighter than my own, and much denser than that of a summer days' sky. Not blue like the ocean, but almost like a cyan that stood out tremendously.

"Whoa…" I pondered, leaning in a little to get a better look, despite being weary of the small creature's sharp teeth, "Your eyes…"

Snapping out of the little trance I'd put myself into whilst staring at the dragon, I turned and looked towards my town, then back to the lizard baby.

"Look. There's not much of a future back there for me right now,"

The dragon made no response, but looked at me intently with its bright eyes.

"Well… I have to inherit my future… as a blacksmith, and I don't really want to do that. And, well. Well, that's not important. What's important is the fact, I'm not returning to that place with you, 'cause you'll be hunted, and seeing as I've got nothing really to live for if I stayed there, then, well… We could leave, go somewhere safer,"

It huffed a little, and wandered over to my side, lowering its head and forcing it under my arm so I was hugging it slightly. Still aware that it was rather slimy from being inside the egg, I held it close and exhaled shakily. This really was an odd experience.

Right. This really is it, a real turning point in my life. I'm going to run away, with a baby dragon, to find adventure elsewhere. I really have no idea what's going to become of it, but it should definitely be an experience to go through. Home life was going to get me nowhere anyway.

With my decision made, I turned to look down at the small winged lizard, and smiled.

"This going to be interesting, little guy,"

**-:-:-**

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	2. Chapter 2

I shoved a leather backpack onto my bed, its body already stuffed halfway with some essentials for a journey. Clothes, money, food, tools, things like that. I exhaled slowly and sat beside my satchel on my bed, my mind fogged with ideas of where to go, places to see, and more importantly; what to do with the dragon offspring, which I had ordered to stay by the young oak tree back by the river.

Calming down a little, I let my eyes wander over to my bookshelf. Would I need to take books with me? Probably not, unless I was planning on being bored for most of my journey. This journey, man, I don't even know what I'm expecting to find outside of Whiterun, seeing as I've never been anywhere outside this small city. Besides down to the river, and dismally staring out over to the mountains that surrounded us, I'd never really known what was outside. Yeah, I know there are other towns, cities and provinces; like Solitude and Windhelm.

Standing up slowly and stretching, I walked over to my bookcase and crouched, browsing the titles idly. I may as well take some reading apparatus with me; the journey to wherever we were headed was surely to be a long one.

"Here There Be Dragons," I mumbled, lifting my arm and running two fingers over the leather spine to the book. I remember my dad bringing this book back from an Inn nearby when he went for his weekly drink with his friends. I'd never really taken much interest as I should have, but the word 'dragon' just stuck out like a sore thumb, now.

I gently slid the book from the case, and flipped through the pages. Letting my eyes land on the inscribed script with curiosity.

"_According to dremora that the College of Whispers have "questioned," they just were, and are. Eternal, immortal, unchanging and unyielding… They are not born or hatched. They do not mate or breed."_

I raised an eyebrow. Surely, if dragons do not mate, and are never hatched, then the dragon I had discovered could not be a dragon. It definitely looked like one, for sure, but this book says otherwise. Not ever have I known of such literature to be false. I looked back down and continued to read;

"_There are no known examples of dragon eggs or dragonlings… The Iliac Bay area has stories of such things, but so far all have proven false,_"

Looking up, I slammed the book shut. If there haven't been any proven sources to dragons hatching or appearing from eggs, then I must have the first example. If I took the dragon to some place which could define that, then word could spread that dragons could actually be the result of some form of breeding, making this book somewhat false.

I know for sure that I'm not dreaming, the dragonlings I found was as real as anything else. I felt it's smooth scaly skin under my palm, I saw the look in its eyes; and I can tell directly that something as real as that was most definitely _not _a dream.

Shoving the book into my satchel for further references, I swung the bag over my shoulder and trudged towards my door. Stopping only for a second to turn and stare at something leant against the wall, which had been hidden behind my door since the day I was given it.

A sword, to be more precise. My father had made it for me, its handle black, with spiralling curves of silver enveloping the leather shaft. The blade was long, thin, and sharp, inscribed on the edge were patterns with swirls and dots. I treasured the present, but not really used it. Well, I had no need, for I was the son of a blacksmith.

I reached towards the blade and its sheath, and stared at them in my hand for a second, before putting the sword into its protection and attaching it to my belt. I felt a little better about leaving now, knowing I had the apparatus to protect myself, not to mention a dragon which was sure to grow quickly.

My parents weren't home, my father out at work, and my mother at the local market doing the late minute weekly shop. The only other being in my home at that moment was my younger sister, in her room.

Timidly, I walked over to her door, and knocked a few times on the wood. There was a pause, and a small voice squeaked, giving me entrance.

"Hello," I smiled as I opened the door, it squeaked on its hinges, "Angel?"

There was a little gasp, and a small girl came running from her closet, a large floppy hat covering her eyes. She was shuffling along the floor, large leather shoes engulfing her feet,

"Boo, Boo!" The girl cooed, holding up her arms and squeezing her palms open and closed, "Boo!"

"Hello little sis," I grinned, kneeling on one knee and clasping my 5 year old sister in a hug, I pulled away and stared at her face, chuckling at the coloured splotches covering her complexion, "Have you been using mummies clothes and makeup again?"

She smiled and gave a cute giggle, covering her mouth with a hand, and then pulling the hat down over her eyes.

"Maaaaybe," she laughed, lifting the hat back off of her face and looking at me with bright green eyes, "Mummy said!"

I raised an eyebrow; "Did she, Angel?"

"Maaaaybe!"

"You little squirt!" I smiled, pulling my wriggling sibling into a tight hug, she hugged back just as tightly, "Isn't it time you went to bed, anyway?"

She pulled away and bit her lip and looked back at her small bed, then back to me.

"Mummy said you would tuck me in,"

"Well," I huffed in a playfull way, "I guess we gotta get you in bed, then,"

I stood up, and my younger sister began to giggle. She stepped away, as she knew what was coming. I leant forwards and scooped her up into my grasp, tickling her with my fingers. She laughed and squirmed, and I managed to get her over to her bed and at the same time take her hat off with my mouth.

She kicked off her shoes and jumped from my arms, burying her face in her pillow and kicking back the covers.

I tucked her in gently, and kissed her firmly on the forehead. She looked at me and smiled, then caught a glance of the sword strapped to my side. She let out a little gasp.

"Where are you going big brother?" She said timidly, her attitude calming considerably from the exited little girl I had just been talking too. She was obviously concerned.

I glanced down at my blade, and then looked worriedly back at my sister. My heart started to ache a little, and the idea of leaving her behind was starting to dawn on me.

"I'm going on an adventure!" I said, trying to sound positive. She sat up a little, eyes lighting.

"Can I come too, Boo! Can I? Can I?" She grinned as she waited for my response.

"I'm sorry, Angel, this is a big boy adventure, I'll be gone a little while,"

"Awh," She said disappointedly, the looked up and said, "Can I come join in when I'm a big _girl_?"

I laughed, and patted her on the head, the twisting in my stomach and heart tightening a little,

"Sure thing, Angel,"

With that said, I kissed her on the forehead again and stood up, adjusting the satchel as it hung off my back. I waved my little sister goodbye and blew out the candle on her bedside. Leaving the room quietly, I closed the door behind me and let out a long breath of anticipation. That was not easy, and god forbids I have to do it again, especially with my family.

I was quick to scrawl a note of goodbyes, and after grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, I left the house, and went out into the night, arriving by the oak tree as hastily as I could. Breathing heavily, I looked around for the small dragon.

"Dragon?" I hissed, squinting through the dark, "Dovah?"

A small squeak followed by a small nudge on my calf indicated the presence of the lizard. I turned and crouched, stroking the animal on the head.

"Oh, good boy… or girl!" I laughed quietly, "You waited,"

The lizard stared up at my with its bright eyes, seemingly glowing in the dark of the night

"We need to get moving," I ordered, scooping up the dragonling and holding him close to my side. I exhaled a plume of wispy air and trudged towards the stables. I wasn't planning on taking a horse, as it meant another mouth to feed, and I just didn't have enough money to do that.

The dragon sat quietly at my side, beneath my jacket, covered from sight. Not that there was anyone out at this time of night to see it, or us.

I walked for a good while, and then stopped. Turning slowly, I stared back at my hometown. Torches lit its outer walls, and the guards tower stood tall, with guards on the inside keeping a night watch. I was going to miss this. I was going to miss my town, my parents, my friends, and my sister. But this dragon couldn't return there, not whilst everyone was on such high alert. I will definitely return one day, but not for a while. Not until this dragon is old enough to fend for itself, and not until I define where it even came from, seeing as there is not any evidence of dragons ever being hatchlings, or the race mating in any way.

With that thought, I hugged the winged lizard tighter and said my silent goodbyes to my town, then turning on my heels and setting off to a destination unknown.

**-:-:-:-**

**Thanks for the reviews guys :)**

**I hope this chapter was alright, as I didn't have time to check over it!**

**I understand there are some things I didn't explain, like why this boy would be so hasty to leave his family, or how it came that a dragon would hatch from an egg when there was no evidence of dragons being able to breed.**

**Let's just hope this chapter cleared things up a **_**little**_**. I'll try to explain more as time goes on.**

**Hope you enjoyed, please R&R!**

**~Jammy**


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